Alex Bay rallies for nursing home

ALEXANDRIA BAY — Members of the community here will once again go to bat for their local hospital services.

Much like in 2002, when Concerned Citizens for E.J. Noble Hospital was formed to save the hospital from closure, a citizens' group will form this week to fight plans to close River Hospital's skilled nursing facility.

"We may fail, but I think once people start looking for and searching for answers something will happen," said Nellie M. Taylor, former hospital board member and leader of Concerned Citizens. "We may not resolve this but the only way to try to do it is join together. There's strength in numbers."

Mrs. Taylor disagreed with the board's several-month discussion about closing the skilled nursing unit, so she resigned from the panel a few hours before its Wednesday meeting when other members voted to send the closure plan to the state Department of Health for approval. With the shock of last week's events over, she said several River Hospital nurses and community members contacted her saying action needs to be taken.

Mrs. Taylor said this new group is ready to put up a fight.

Her son, Daniel J. French, said he is willing to help out any way he can. A Syracuse lawyer, Mr. French represented the Concerned Citizens group about eight years ago.

"Residents and the community need to do something similar to what they did in 2003; come together in living rooms, small banquet rooms, and plot a strategy to at least understand for themselves what the options are," Mr. French said. "I saw what they were capable of in 2003, and no one thought they could keep that facility open."

Hospital Chief Executive Officer Ben Moore III said state officials told him the community was not to be informed of the closure plan until the process was finished. He referred to a general policy letter dated Aug. 7, 2006, from the state Health Department to all nursing home administrators, which states, "Information on a potential closure may not be disclosed to the public, patients/residents or staff prior to notifying the DOH, submission of a closure plan to the DOH, and approval of such plan by the DOH."

Mr. French said the hospital is hiding behind regulations and should have informed residents, their families and staff of the closure possibility before now.

Part of the closure plan, Mr. Moore said, includes talking to the community after the facility receives a response from the state Health Department.

"We intended to have a public meeting to explain this, and certainly if circumstances change the board can always reconsider, but the reason for proceeding is it just doesn't appear likely there is any possibility," Mr. Moore said. "Our concern is that we can't base our policy on something that doesn't appear at all possible."

He said the closure plan was a last resort for the hospital, as the hospital has struggled for years with low Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Mr. French said whatever the case was, the community's voice should have been heard first.

"That community, given what it went though in 2003, is entitled to frank and open discussions about that facility," he said.

River Hospital Board member Dr. Robert C. Tague said he agrees.

"The unfairness about it is we haven't been able to discuss it with anyone and now it might close," Dr. Tague said. "I don't know what else we can do about it unless there's a ground swell of people that come up to say, 'Look, if this is what you need, maybe we can raise funds in the community.'"

Dr. Tague said he doesn't want residents of the skilled nursing unit to have to wait in limbo much longer.

"Where the hell are they going to go?" he said. "You have to find acceptable housing for these people before you can evict them."

Mr. Moore said if the closure plan is approved, River Hospital will work diligently with residents and their families to find open beds at other nursing home facilities in the area.